Space A

///AMG

///AMG

Well-Known Member
For anyone who has used it before, what are your tips/advice? My class and I (all active duty USN/USMC folks) are looking at doing a trip to Europe in the next couple of months (after we wing), and it would be awesome to use space-A to save some money. We would be leaving out of MS......me thinks the best way would be comm-air to the Dover area and then wait out a flight across the pond. Thoughts? How much slack should we allow in our travel sked? We all know folks in the DC/VA area that we could hang with while waiting, but that said, we'd like to take advantage of the leave we have
 
I used it to get to Europe a few times and never got bumped being Category 3 (active duty/regular leave). You are almost guaranteed to get SOMEWHERE in Europe; don't count on going to any specific country unless you want to reposition yourself with a LCC like EasyJet or RyanAir.

Always take the first flight into the region. If you were trying to get to London, don't pass up the flight to Rota NAS, Spain just because there is a flight to RAF Lakenheath a few hours later. The same goes for the return trip. Don't pass up a flight into Charleston AFB, SC because you want to get to a Northeastern base.

Plan to return from Ramstein AB, Germany. The return trip is critical bcause you need to get back before your leave is up; give yourself two to three days to get back home in time. Ramstein has the most flights back to the US which gives you the best shot at getting a flight home on the day that you want. Don't buy commercial airline tickets in advance. Call the airlines wherever you end up and ask for a military fare which is usually cheaper last minute and refundable.

Schedules are obtained by calling the PAX terminal 24 hours in advance. This makes it difficult to plan ahead so you have to recognize patterns of flights in the coming months. For instance, you'll start to notice that there is a certain C-5 flight from Charleston to Rota, NAS every week on a certain day. This message board will be very useful in determining the schedule of flights over the past months for every base: http://www.pepperd.com/cgi-bin/spacea/discus.cgi

Also, avoid holidays because military dependents will be going home and they'll be in the same category as you. Hope this helps
 
fly out of JAN....they take the C-17s fron JAN to Ramstein twice a week......it makes a stop in either dover or andrews on the way
 
ian said:
and they apparently always go out pretty empty from what they have said when i've called about it
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Doesn't surprise me that much given the location. So do you just call their command directly or is there some sort of airlift terminal POC that we should contact? And is it something you call ahead about, or do you just show up and put your name on the list?
 
///AMG said:
Doesn't surprise me that much given the location. So do you just call their command directly or is there some sort of airlift terminal POC that we should contact? And is it something you call ahead about, or do you just show up and put your name on the list?
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they used to have a phone number posted on their website....the 172nd Airlift Wing....not anymore that i can find though....you just need to get a number for them, then call them in advance to get the days the flights go and ask them what you need to do from there.....its something like they fly out on tuesdays and thursdays with returns on sunday.....
 
The BEST advice is to have both time and money backups when the Space A flight doesn't work out.

It's generally an easy process, and for active duty on leave it usually works out fine, BUT remember that it's not like airline flying. You can get bumped any time, maintenance and weather can change schedules at any time, and there usually is not another flight in a timely fashion going where you want to go.

If you have to travel to a specific place on a specific day, and can't afford to drop the $ to buy a last minute ticket to get where you *need* to go, then don't do it.

If you go into it being flexible, both with where you want to go and when you want to be there, then it can be VERY fun and inexpensive.

BTW, McConnell AFB has a KC-135 that goes to RAF Mildenhall and back once a week on a regular basis that is easy to get on (ergo, usually not full either way). Once you're in England, going anywhere in Europe is either a cheap RyanAir flight away or another Space A hop away if you're not picky about where you go or how you get there.
 
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